"Thank you." After everything was over, Honig left, and the pirates on the Jackdaw received their share of the profits, Karina walked up to Zhang Heng and said gratefully.
The businesswoman couldn't imagine what would have happened if Zhang Heng didn't come back in time on the beach last night.
Her thinking has always been stuck on the commercial struggle, how to compete with Malcolm for the captain, compare the purchase price, break through the blockade of the Black Business Alliance, at most she paid attention to the port problems because of her father's experience, and avoided Malcolm's In the seaports where the family had the strongest influence, they never expected that the other party would directly tear off their face and send pirates to intercept and kill the Breeze.
This kind of thing has not happened on the island for a long time.
The group of pirates that Malcolm contacted did not belong to Nassau, so there was no need to worry about breaking the rules of the island. Last night was also Karina's first real contact with the dark side of the world.
She has changed a lot in the past few months in Nassau. From the first time she blushed when talking to men, to now she can bargain with a group of fierce captains with a calm look. She has been praised by Malone and others. The businesswoman also feels that she has integrated here. .
So much so that she even forgot that she was facing a group of murderous pirates, and last night, the guy named Wilton successfully aroused all the fears in her heart on the beach.
The knife in the opponent's hand was less than two centimeters away from her neck. This was the closest Karina had been to death in her life.
"I am also responsible for what happened to the Skull. I asked you to stay aggressive. I underestimated the danger. I didn't expect Malcolm to take action so quickly." Zhang Heng looked around and saw the second-hand goods trading office from early morning. It has been very lively since it opened, and there is a long queue in front of the door. "It seems that you have done well in recent times and put a lot of pressure on the Black Business Alliance."
Karina smiled bitterly when she heard this, "It just looks lively, but in fact it doesn't make much money. Now it's just barely making ends meet. In the end, we still have to rely on your Jackdaw."
"How many captains have come to see you privately while I've been at sea?"
"There were four people who cooperated before, and there are still some who are interested. We are negotiating, but because Malcolm later issued a statement, only two are still willing to cooperate with us, and the others have turned to wait and see, but Now the situation has improved, especially after you killed Wilton's group, many people began to believe that we can stay on the island. Just now, there was even a captain who expressed his willingness to give up the Black Business Alliance and establish a long-term relationship with us. The cooperative relationship, although their strength is not too strong, is much better than these guys.”
The businesswoman raised her eyebrows at the ragged pirates in front of the second-hand goods trading office who complained about not being given two more copper pesos.
"But now there is a problem. If we continue to expand, one transport ship will no longer be enough."
"Wildon has two ships. His flagship Skeleton needs to be repaired before it can be used. However, the other ship is intact. The firepower on that ship is not as good as the Skeleton, but it has more space. It should be used as a transport ship. It's a good fit, the only problem is that the ship had been a pirate ship and might cause trouble if it was recognized in port."
"It's nothing. Wilton himself said that he rarely leaves alive when he plunders. There shouldn't be many people who have seen that ship, and I will have the ship remodeled before leaving port. Even people who have seen it wouldn’t recognize it.”
The businesswoman had obviously thought about this problem in advance, "As for manpower, we can recruit them on the island. In fact, these guys are pretty good. There are many young people among them. They can't make much money as pirates. As long as they have a job, they can make a living." They are willing to work as sailors on transport ships, and their salary requirements are not high. And the most important thing is that they are from the island. No matter how bad they are, they still have many relatives and friends on the island. If last night's incident happens again, The people on the island will no longer sit idly by and ignore the situation.”
Zhang Heng nodded and added, "In the future, if there is any emergency situation when I am away, you can also go to Black Prince Sam or Honig. They will help. In addition, you'd better recruit yourself." A team of people is required to protect the safety. The number of people does not need to be too large, only four or five people can handle some emergencies."
After Zhang Heng finished speaking, seeing Karina hesitate to speak, he asked again, "What's wrong?"
"There's another thing. I don't know if I'm overthinking it. I cooperated with several pirate ships before, and I didn't think about hiding it from the Black Merchant Alliance, but we did take some confidentiality measures. Logically speaking, Malcolm I shouldn't have found out so soon, but he warned me not long after we started.
"At first I thought it was leaked from several pirate groups we cooperated with. You know, those pirates have a hard time keeping any secrets. As long as they have a glass of rum and a little special service from the theater, they will disclose everything they know. I confided it out, but then I realized a problem. If they really leaked the secret, Malcolm should only have information about one or two companies. There is no reason for him to be so clear about my actions. Although he didn't say it clearly when we met. , but he always gave me the feeling that he knew every move I made."
"So do you think it was someone from our side who leaked the news?" Zhang Heng asked.
"I don't know. I selected trustworthy people and minimized the number of people who were exposed to this matter. Including the vast majority of the sailors on the Breeze, they didn't know what they were transporting. ." said the businesswoman.
"Is there anyone you suspect?"
Karina hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Jim, he is very young and can read. He was originally the bookkeeper on the Breeze. Malone recommended him to me. After my father was imprisoned, he was the bookkeeper on the Breeze." Most of the capable old sailors left, many of whom my father originally valued highly for offering high salaries, but Jim stayed. He only joined the ship last year. Logically speaking, the sense of belonging should not be that strong, and With his ability, even if he left the Breeze, he would not have to worry about finding a new job.
"I don't know much about him, but he stayed and helped us a lot when we were in the most difficult times. Therefore, Ma Long and I both trusted him. In addition, he was also very serious about his work. I took him from I asked for it on the Breeze and followed me, specifically counting the cargo, including the trophies acquired privately. He knew where these things came from, and he was also one of the few people who knew the Breeze's sailing route. "
